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Subjunctive "If I were you" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5561 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes  Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 9 of 39 18 July 2012 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Take your pick.
I personally never even notice which people use, either because both alternatives are so widespread and interchangeable, or possibly because I am so inattentive. (In normal speech, the "was/were" would be unstressed, so it is probably hard to tell anyway) But you may want to bear in mind, that if you use "were", a very small subgroup of the population will find you pretentious, pompous and affected, and if you use "was", a (different) very small subgroup will find you common, uneducated, and provincial. So, if I w'you, I'd just say whatever I felt like. Edited by schoenewaelder on 20 July 2012 at 4:34pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hertz Pro Member United States Joined 4514 days ago 47 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 10 of 39 18 July 2012 at 7:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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In my experience, most Americans are good at correctly using the subjunctive in several stock expressions such as "if I were you" and "(I) wish you were here."
However, we are less good at remembering to apply those rules generally, especially in third-person singular. You often hear (to invent examples) "if my car was working," or "I wish he was here." These are common, but incorrect. I suspect few people would notice your usage of the subjunctive either way. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4551 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 11 of 39 19 July 2012 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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"If I was you..." sounds very ungrammatical, but many inculto (uneducated) native English
speakers in the US do indeed say it that way. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4551 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 12 of 39 19 July 2012 at 10:34pm | IP Logged | ||
This seems rather rude. Are you trying to imply that nobody should ask questions here that have likely been answered on other sites? That's ridiculous. The name of this sub- forum is, after all, "Questions About Your Target Languages." 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5784 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 13 of 39 20 July 2012 at 12:54am | IP Logged | ||
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Personally I use both. I'd be hard pressed to say what rules I follow but certainly I'm
more likely to use the subjunctive in certain conversations and with certain people. Perhaps because there's a lot of truth in what schoenewaelder says above!
The only things I'm sure of are that in set phrases such as "if I were you" I'm far more likely to use the subjunctive form (I would rarely say "if I was you"); and that I always try to use the subjunctive form (were) in writing as some people consider the indicative form (was) wrong in writing. Edit: Examples: If I was (probably not were) too tired to do it, I'd tell you (I'm imagining an irritated reply to a friend or workmate). If I were (definitely not was!) given the opportunity to show what I am capable of... (I'm imagining a job interview). If I was (not were) lying, you'd have found out by now (I'm imagining myself at work). If I were lying, you'd have found out by now (talking to certain well-educated friends or family members). Hmmmm...I've been playing about with examples like these for a few minutes and I've noticed I have developed a very strong tendency to avoid the subjunctive form at work. At least for my idiolect this seems to be a question of register, I wonder if it's the same for anyone else? Edited by Random review on 20 July 2012 at 1:12am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| 98789 Diglot Groupie Colombia Joined 5044 days ago 48 posts - 55 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English | Message 14 of 39 20 July 2012 at 1:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks everybody for taking the time to think and post your answers.
I think I'll keep using the "If I were" (subjunctive) since it makes more sense to me. (My brain relates it to my native language as: "If I was" := Si yo era, "If I were" := Si yo fuera -Wrong and right, respectively-). It makes me look kinda simplistic :lol: +1 Anyways, if someone still wants to post something, you can ... Have a nice day! 98789 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5784 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 15 of 39 20 July 2012 at 2:16am | IP Logged | ||
But you I believe you can actually say "si yo era" in Spanish, can't you? For instance: Si yo era un niño travieso, era porque no tenía amigos or Me preguntó si yo era el mesías... And in these case the subjunctive (were) is wrong in English too (at least it sounds very wrong to me!): If I was (not were!) a naughty child, it was because I didn't have any friends. He asked me if I was (not were!) the messiah... Let's see if anyone else can confirm this! If what I have written above is correct then there is good reason to suppose that these structures correspond exactly in English and Spanish and so, far from making you look simplistic, your decision to equate "if I was" with "si yo era" and "if I were" with "si yo fuera" should serve you well :-) Edited by Random review on 20 July 2012 at 2:24am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4551 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 16 of 39 20 July 2012 at 2:51am | IP Logged | ||
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I was thinking like Random Review- that the contexts in which you would use the
indicative vs. the subjunctive w/ this construction exactly correspond in English and Spanish. "If I were you/ Si yo fuera tú" has to be subjunctive, because this is always hypothetical. I also feel that that it would be correct in Spanish as well as English to say "If I was/ Si yo era" in the examples he gives above. Edited by Gala on 20 July 2012 at 3:11am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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